This invention relates to accessories for use with a pad sander and, more particularly, to a sandpaper punch and sizing assembly for providing from a standard size sheet of sandpaper an appropriately sized and perforated piece of sandpaper suitable for use with a pad sander having spaced suction holes in its platen.
Powered pad sanders are known which have air suction holes in their platens for removing abrasion-created debris from the work area. In order to accomplish this desireable result, the sandpaper which is affixed to and covers the underside of the platen must have corresponding air suction holes therein. The air suction holes in the sandpaper must, for obvious reasons, be aligned with the corresponding suction holes in the sander platen. It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an assembly for so perforating the sandpaper.
One arrangement for perforating the sandpaper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,689. As disclosed in the '689 patent, the sandpaper is first affixed to the sander platen which is then brought into contact with a piercing tool which has a base plate and a plurality of spiked projections spaced to conform with the suction holes in the sander platen. A pair of flanges are formed on the base plate which are perpendicular to each other, allowing the sander platen to be properly located on the base plate for alignment of the spiked projections with the suction holes. This arrangement possesses a number of disadvantages. For example, if the sander is not properly aligned on the base plate, the spiked projections will not perforate the sandpaper in the proper locations and may also damage the platen. Also, the spiked projections present a safety hazard to the user. It is therefore another object of this invention to provide a perforating assembly which does not present a safety hazard and cannot cause damage to the sander platen.
Another known arrangement is an assembly including a base member, a plate and a punch. The base member and the plate are perforated in locations corresponding to the platen suction holes. The sandpaper is cut to size and placed on the base member. The plate is then placed over the sandpaper and the punch is passed through the aligned perforations of the plate and the base member to perforate the sandpaper held therebetween. This arrangement has the disadvantage that the sandpaper must be precut to size and also if the sandpaper is not properly placed on the base member, it will not properly fit on the sander platen.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly and a method for cutting to size, perforating air suction holes in, and precreasing a sheet of abrasive material for use with a powered pad sander having spaced suction holes in its platen, which assembly and method do not suffer from the aforedescribed disadvantages.